An autonomous vehicle is a vehicle that is capable of sensing its environment and navigating with little or no user input. It does so by using sensing devices such as radar, lidar, image sensors, and the like. Autonomous vehicles further use information from global positioning systems (GPS) technology, navigation systems, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure technology, and/or drive-by-wire systems to navigate the vehicle.
While recent years have seen significant advancements in autonomous vehicles, such vehicles might still be improved in a number of respects. For example, it is not unusual for an autonomous vehicle to encounter obstacles that might occlude, to some extent, the field of view of various sensing devices that are attempting to monitor oncoming traffic. This is particularly the case in scenarios where the autonomous vehicle is stationary at an intersection with the intent of entering the flow of oncoming traffic, for example, while attempting to turn right into traffic from a minor road or alley.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide obstacle management systems and methods that allow an autonomous vehicle to enter the flow of traffic when an obstacle is blocking the field of view of one or more sensing devices employed by the autonomous vehicle. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.